St. Paul daily globe., 1887-10-13
"Bobby" Adams Testimony
duplicates. .Connor, in the
Big Stamp Robbery.
Men Who We're at the Hotels
Yesterday---Several No
table Weddings.
Crooked Piano Dealing
Many Minor Matters Full
Of Local Interest.
CONVICTS ESCAPE.

Frank Landers, the Notorious
Forger, and a Companion Es-
cape From Prison.
While the convicts in the state peni-
tentiary at Saltwater We're eating their
evening allowance of hash last night
one of the most noted criminals con-
fined there and another of lesser repu-
tation made their escape and are still at
large. They are Frank Lam
derS sentenced from st. Paul for for
gerry, and John Carlin. sentenced from
Minneapolis for larceny. IanderS was
employed in the prison Office as book
keeper. being an expert penman. Car
lin was employed in the prison barber
shop. and both were allowed privileges
about the yard not accorded to ordinary
convictS. There is no wall ON the west
side of the prison-only high wooden
fence. BetWee Ii and Z o clock they made
their way out of the prison yard, taking
a time when the guard was not looking,
and gained their freedom through a
small hole in the high fence, where
board had been torn off. They had on
their prison suits at the time, but the
prison officials believe there was 4 man
outside who assisted them. a stranger
TWO or three days past, and had been i'll
side with permission to see them. 1t is
believed this stranger brought some
extra suits of citizens clothes, and that
the escaping cOnYictS changed their
garb They are thought TO have gone
to Minneapolis, but this is only
conjecture. The police authorities of
all surrounding cities were notified
at once. but 10 intelligence of their
whereabouts has yet been received.
Landers had served two years and Car
lin had been doing time for about a
year.
Warden StordOck was absent from
the prison at the time, having been
called away the day previous by the
death of his brother.
LANDERS' CAREER.
The story of the career of young
Landers. and the crime for which he
was committed, reads almost like To-
nance. Landers was handsome, we'll
educated fellow of about twenty-seven
years when he bobbed up as
college dude at Cornell University,
Ithaca, New York. He remained
at the University for about three weeks,
captivating the ladies, and making
friends of everybody. When he left, he
leftA suddenly, and he left with
his rOommate'S trunk and large sums of
money borrowed under false pretenseS.
After he was gone it was learned that
the polite young freshman who
had fooled the college erudites was
notorious confidence men, who had al
ready served several times in peniten-
tiaries, notably at Ballenoor and Port
Jarvis. LanderS first got his start in
crookedness as a newsboy on the New
York Central railroad. He left Cornell
ltnivprsitx- in limo 1894 and Shnua1
in August at st. Paul. During the
interim he had been to Omaha,
where he secured about $4,000 on
forged checks, and he had also been to
San Francisco. where he worked SIM
liar racket for $4,000. Arriving in st.
Paul, Sanders represented himself as L.
j. James. senior member of the big
lumber firm of L. J. James d Co.,
of La Crosse. He stopped at
the Hotel Astoria, made HIM
self acquainted, and proceeded
ness men. He had check-boOk of beau
tifully Autographed checks of Il. j.
James d Co. At Myers u Finch's Jew
elry store he purchased diamonds cost
ing about 5000, and gave check for
$1,000, which the firm caShed, returning
him the balance. He also stuck
a tailor for several suits of
clothes and some money, on another
forged check for $500, and got smaller
sums and much goods from a dozen
other business houses on Third street.
He skipped, and shortly after was heard
of at the Michigan university at Ann
Arbor. where he represented himself as
Lieut.. Somerville, of the United States
navy. Again he eluded the officers,
and with his
POCKETS FULL. OF GOLD.
sailed to Europe, where he spent the
winter. Returning to America in the
spring, he went through several Mas
sachuSetts cities, working his old game
successfully. In May he landed in
Boston and prepared to do up the Hub
city. The Pinkertons located him
there, and he was landed behind the
bars. There was evidence to convict
him at Boston, but st. Paul had a prior
claim on his distinguished presence,
and he was brought back to the city and
arraigned on six separate indictments
for forgery. On the advice of his at
torney he pleaded guilty, and Judge
Brill came down on him hard with
sentence to twenty-four years at hard
labor. The public commented consider
ably OH the severity of the sentence,
but LanderS was hustled off to Stillwa-
ter and buried in the oblivion of the
prison.